A new era of shoot and loot is about to begin. Play as one of four new vault hunters facing off against a massive new world of creatures, psychos and the evil mastermind, Handsome Jack. Make new friends, arm them with a bazillion weapons and fight alongside them in 4 player co-op or split-screen on a relentless quest for revenge and redemption across the undiscovered and unpredictable living planet.

Story

Borderlands 2 follows the story of four new Vault Hunters as they fight to free Pandora from the clutches of Handsome Jack, the brilliant, charismatic, and utterly despicable CEO of the Hyperion Corporation.

Players will fight across the whole of Pandora to stop Jack from awakening an ancient alien evil known only as "the Warrior." Their quest will bring them into contact with some familiar faces from the old game – most notably, the original four Vault Hunters: Roland, Lilith, Brick and Mordecai. They, along with some brand new characters, will help players defeat Jack, destroy the Warrior, and save Pandora.

The Mechromancer is the fifth playable class in Borderlands 2. First revealed at PAX East 2012, the class will be added as post-release Downloadable Content 60-90 days after the Borderlands 2 release. There will be no charge for those that pre-ordered Borderlands 2 but will cost a small fee for those that don't. She is able to command mechs, including the D374-TP (Deathtrap).

EXPLOSIONS! The latest downloadable add-on for Borderlands 2, Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage, is here to deliver them by the truckload. As the owner of the Torgue Corporation, purveyors of only the boomiest of boomsticks in all the land, he tends to be a bit...extreme. As in “skydiving out of a rocket ship while drinking a six-pack of energy drinks and playing a sweet guitar solo on a flaming Fender Strat.” Apparently, another vault has been found and the word on the street is that it can only be opened if a coward's blood is spilled upon it by the biggest badass in Pandora. Naturally, Mr. Torgue decides that this calls for a tournament to decide who's really the baddest arse of them all, and who better to win it than you?

So, you’ve got a Golden Key. Maybe you pre-ordered Borderlands 2 from a Premiere Club retailer or maybe you were lucky enough to snag a code from a Gearbox event or giveaway -- there are a variety of ways to get a Golden Key, and somehow you nabbed one.

“But how, O handsome Gearbox developers,” you ask, “does the Golden Key work? Exactly? Also you are very handsome.”

Firstly, thank you for the compliment. Secondly, the Golden Key is a rare item that unlocks a special Golden Chest in the friendly city of Sanctuary. Here’s what that Golden Chest looks like:

So, you’ve got a Golden Key in your profile and you start up the game. What happens next?

Firstly, you’ll have to get to the city of Sanctuary. This should take you about three hours (two hours to play through the missions leading up to Sanctuary, and one hour for physical recovery after you injure yourself laughing at the impeccably written dialog).

Then, you’ve got a decision to make. See, the loot inside the Golden Chest is always of “very rare” (purple) quality and scaled to your character’s level at the moment you open the chest. If you’ve only got one Key, you need to consider: do I want some high-quality loot right now, or do I want to wait until I’m closer to the (considerably more difficult) end of the game? Do I want my Level 21 Maya to open the chest, or should I switch to my Level 33 Axton?

Keep in mind that you cannot trade or sell Golden Keys, and once you’ve used a Key to open the Golden Chest, that Key is gone for good. So, you know. Choose carefully.

Whatever your decision, the loot you get from the Golden Chest is like any other piece of loot in the game – you can trade it, stash it, or sell it at your own discretion!